Murder-accused Francesco Prevete did not show any signs of mental disorder or epilepsy during his time under the care of a psychiatrist, jury told

Tributes left in memory of Craig Maddocks The Cambrian Vaults in Wrexham

A consultant psychiatrist told a murder trial jury that defendant Francesco Prevete had not displayed symptoms of bipolar disorder or epilepsy while he was under the care of local psychiatric services.

Dr Lucia Klenka of the Hedfan psychiatric unit at Wrexham agreed with prosecuting barrister Karl Scholz that his medical records showed that he first suggested hearing voices in his head after he was remanded in custody in June last year, after he was accused of the murder of Craig Maddocks.

Prevete claims at Mold Crown Court that he did not do it. But he is running an alternative defence that if the jury find that he had done it, that he was labouring under an insane automatism at the time following an epileptic episode.

Defendant Francesco Prevete

Dr Klenka said he was first referred to psychiatric services in 2010 because of anxiety and depression stemming from an injury to his hand at work, his perceived attitude of his former employers JCB, his continuing pain and the ongoing civil litigation.

He had been prescribed anti-depressants and sedatives and his sleep was disturbed. At one stage, he had been diagnosed with depression, but had improved.

He had not reported blackouts, nothing that might suggest epilepsy, no trance-like states and no visual or auditory hallucinations, she said.

Mr Maddocks, 34, from Llay near Wrexham, died of “shock and haemorrhaging”.

Dr Klenka gave the jury a resume of Prevete’s psychiatric care and said in 2012, he had expressed anger and thoughts of vengeance against five people at JCB.

He told how he had no plans to act on his feelings but said that he had a mental image of what would happen and how he would harm them.

Pevete told how his negative thoughts focused on JCB and his injury and he was unable to move on. A £500,000 financial settlement did not improve matters.

The doctor agreed with Suzanne Goddard QC, defending, that he did not want the money and gave it away or gambled it away, and later felt guilty.

The defendant had good days and bad days.

He had reported seeing spiders in the corner of his eyes at one stage but that was thought to be the side effects of one of his medications.

Asked about the claim that he had been suffering blackouts and hallucinations for three years, Dr Klenka said that with the relationship they had, she hoped that he would have been able to tell her if he had.

Considering the number of people he could have told about those symptoms, she said she would question why it had not come out.

The case is proceeding and the defence is due to start its case today.

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Mark Thomas

Liverpool-born Mark joined the Daily Post in January 2014 after seven years as editor of its Merseyside sister title the Liverpool Post. He started out as a weekly news reporter on Wirral Newspapers, and spent seven years at the Daily Post and Liverpool Echo. He was The Press Association's regional correspondent for North Wales, Merseyside and Cheshire from 1983 to 1997, before returning to the ECHO as deputy news editor. He has won a number of journalism awards, including the UK Press Gazzette Regional Reporter of the Year award, and in 1993 wrote a book on the James Bulger murder.